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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24988348">Until the Rain Stops</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/8andahalfby11/pseuds/8andahalfby11'>8andahalfby11</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Murder Mystery, Mystery, game</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:48:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,818</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24988348</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/8andahalfby11/pseuds/8andahalfby11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Autumn of 1979, four children on the Island of Rokkenjima decide to play a simple mystery game. Can you solve the mystery before Battler does? (Four chapters, short)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Reposted from FF.net using my account with the same name.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In lieu of something difficult, how about a kid's story?</p>
<p>Many tales have already been told about the Rokkenjima disaster of 1986, the riddle, and the eighteen deaths. This is not one of them. Instead, our story begins during the Ushiromiya Reunion just before the turn of the decade, in the autumn of 1979.</p>
<p>Rainstorms were part of the reality of living in Japan, doubly so when it came to the minor outlying islands like Rokkenjima. As such, the downpour occurring outside of the Ushiromiya mansion wasn't unexpected, but it was inconvenient to Ushiromiya Battler, who threw the window drapes closed and groaned, "I wanted to go to the beach."</p>
<p>The parlor in the mansion was large enough to contain two long sofas and a few tables, but snug enough to feel homelike. From one of these sofas, Ushiromiya George pushed up his glasses and stated, "It wouldn't be safe to go to the beach right now. The waves—"</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah," Battler threw himself onto the couch next to his other cousin, Jessica, who scooted away from him. "I just wish it wasn't so boring."</p>
<p>"I could get checkers?" Jessica said.</p>
<p>Battler stuck out his tongue. "You know I stink at checkers."</p>
<p>"Cards?"</p>
<p>George furiously shook his head. "Battler's a sore loser."</p>
<p>Before Jessica could suggest anything else, one of the maids, Shannon, walked in with a plate of cookies. "I heard you talking," she said, her voice high and light, almost a whisper, "And I thought you might like—"</p>
<p>"Snacks? Hell yeah!" Battler dashed over, ignoring Jessica's smirk and George's eye rolling. This was just one of the many reasons he liked Shannon. Sure, she was two years younger than himself and his cousins, but she <em>got</em> him. She seemed to know just when he wanted to eat, and what foods he liked, and what his interests were. He had been surprised to learn that behind her shy, mousy face was a delight in murder mysteries, even some of the really violent ones that he liked.</p>
<p>After he brought the plate to the table, he waved her over and said, "Sit with us! We were just trying to figure out what to do until the rain stopped."</p>
<p>The young maid politely bowed, passed around the table, took up an empty stretch of couch that placed her on Jessica's other side, and neatly folded her hands on her lap. "What would you like to do?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Well, that's just it," Jessica said. "Battler doesn't want to play any of the usual games."</p>
<p>Shannon put a finger to her lips, in thought, then her eyes widened and she said, "How about a murder mystery?"</p>
<p>"A murder mystery?" Battler said, "Out of a book?"</p>
<p>"No, I'll make one up, and you can try to solve it."</p>
<p>"Huh? You're a kid! You can't write a whole mystery!"</p>
<p>"She can too!" Jessica shouted. "Everyone knows that girls are smarter than boys!"</p>
<p>"<em>Yeah right!</em>" Battler said.</p>
<p>"Are too!"</p>
<p>"Are not!"</p>
<p>"Proooove it!" Jessica said, a big maniacal grin on her face. "I bet the rain will stop before you figure out Shannon's mystery!"</p>
<p>Shannon's face went red with embarrassment. "Um… it's not the best mystery..."</p>
<p>"It's fine!" Jessica said, wrapping an arm around the maid as a show of support. "Battlers a big dummy, you've got this!"</p>
<p>"Hey!"</p>
<p>"Fine by me," George said. "If Battler wants to make a goof out of himself, I'm all for it."</p>
<p>"You're supposed to be on my side!" Battler huffed, stood, and said, "Fine, I'll do it myself. But there needs to be rules."</p>
<p>"Like three guesses and you're out?" Jessica said.</p>
<p>"That's not fair!"</p>
<p>"You can guess as many times as you like," Shannon decided. "And… and to make it simple, you don't need to figure out who the killer is."</p>
<p>Battler raised an eyebrow. "I don't?"</p>
<p>"No, you just need to explain how the murder could have happened."</p>
<p>"That's it?" Battler stood up, paced around the table opposite the girls, and said, "Easy as cake! Let's get started!"</p>
<p>Shannon cupped her chin, thinking for a moment. "Once there was a very rich man… we'll call him Mr. Dango—"</p>
<p>Battler burst out laughing. "Like the snack?"</p>
<p>"Coming up with names is hard."</p>
<p>"Who cares?" Jessica said. "Go on Shannon, Mr. Dango?"</p>
<p>"Yes… Mr. Dango had his own mansion with his own servants and his own family… and his own room that he stayed locked up in most of the time."</p>
<p>"Like Grandpa Kinzo?" Battler asked.</p>
<p>"Yes. He had a special room that could only be locked from the inside. There was no keyhole on the outside. He liked this room because it meant that he could not be distrubed. He did not like to be disturbed at all. If anyone ever tried to go to his room to talk to him, he would tell them to go away."</p>
<p>"One day, he did not appear for supper. Mr. Dango always came down to the dining room to eat supper without fail, even if he was upset, so this was very strange to his servants and family. They waited an hour for him to appear, and he did not. Two hours, still no Mr. Dango. The family decided to go up to the room and found that the door was locked. They knocked on the door, loud as they could, but did not hear anything from inside. Terrified that something had happened to him, they broke down the door, and inside they found Mr. Dango, dead on the floor.</p>
<p>"They called the police immediately, and the police sent Detective Battler. Our story begins with Battler being led to the room with the broken-down door. After looking around, he sees that the room has a window, but the window is only glass… it does not open. It also has a bed, a desk with a chair, some bookshelves, a dresser, and a small connected bathroom."</p>
<p>Shannon stopped there and looked up at Battler, waiting.</p>
<p>"What do I do now?" he said.</p>
<p>"You can ask questions, and if you like you can guess how the murder happened."</p>
<p>"Okay. You say Mr. Dango is dead on the floor?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"Okay, he was shot with a gun. Mystery solved."</p>
<p>Jessica folded her arms in annoyance. "Why do you think he was shot?"</p>
<p>"Because most of the people who die in mystery stories die from getting shot, so I'm just gonna guess that since I have unlimited guesses."</p>
<p>"How? The room was locked."</p>
<p>"He was shot through the window, then."</p>
<p>"There's no bullet hole in the window," Shannon said.</p>
<p>"Fine, he was shot through the door with a high-power rifle."</p>
<p>"There's no bullet hole in the door either."</p>
<p>Battler shook his head. "I could guess everything and you girls could just keep saying 'no, no, no.' What if there's a bullet hole that's too small to see? What if he was shot through the door crack? What if—"</p>
<p>"We need a new rule," George said with a sigh. "Otherwise Battler's never going to accept your answers."</p>
<p>Shannon thought about it a little more, and said, "Okay, if I hold up my hand and say something, it means it's absolutely true, and there's no way around it."</p>
<p>"You promise?"</p>
<p>The maid held up her hand, like she was a witness at a trial, and swore, "<strong>There are no bullet holes anywhere inside or outside the room.</strong>"</p>
<p>"Including on Mr. Dango?" Battler asked.</p>
<p>"Do you have evidence that Mr. Dango was shot?" Jessica argued.</p>
<p>"Prove me wrong!"</p>
<p>Shannon held up her hand and was about to speak but Jessica blocked her. "Nuh-uh. If Battler wants us to prove things, he's going to need to force us, right!?"</p>
<p>The younger girl looked back and forth between the two of them, then slowly lowered her hand. "Here's a better question," George said. "You swore that there aren't any bullet holes, right? That means that if you did want to shoot Mr. Dango, you would need to be <em>inside</em> the room."</p>
<p>"Right!" Battler said.</p>
<p>"How did the shooter get into the room?"</p>
<p>Battler held up a hand, mouth open, and appeared ready to speak… but no words came to him. "I mean…" he tried, "I guess…" he shook his head. "Hang on, you said the door was locked from the inside, right?"</p>
<p>Shannon nodded and held up her hand. <strong>"The door was locked from the inside."</strong></p>
<p>"Someone couldn't have unlocked it from the outside?"</p>
<p>"<strong>There is no way to lock or unlock it from the outside."</strong></p>
<p>"And there's no way in through the window?"</p>
<p>"<strong>The window does not open."</strong></p>
<p>"I said there were no bullet holes. What about bigger holes?"</p>
<p>"<strong>The window does not have any holes in it."</strong></p>
<p>No way in, no way out. Battler knew he should have guessed—she was his mystery novel partner after all, and as he scanned her face, he saw the side of her mouth curl up ever so slightly into the beginning of a smile.</p>
<p>"It's a locked room," he realized. "This is a locked room mystery."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"A locked room?" George asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah," Battler said. "Locked rooms are all about making it look like the murder is impossible. You see a lot of them in mysteries, because they're cooler than just finding a dead guy in the hallway."</p>
<p>Looking back at Shannon and Jessica he added, "They're also a pain to solve."</p>
<p>Shannon shrugged. "It's not a very good locked room–"</p>
<p>"Don't put yourself down!" Jessica said. "Besides, I'd like to see Battler's face when he sees the punishment game I have for him when he loses!"</p>
<p>"Wait, what!" Battler said, "We never talked about a punishment game!"</p>
<p>"What's the fun if there's no punishment at the end? If Shannon wins, you need to do something she says, and I'm going to tell her a <em>really</em> good one!"</p>
<p>But Battler couldn't help but grin in response. "Fine, but if I win, she has to do something I say."</p>
<p>Jessica gave Shannon a playful poke and pointed out, "You'd better win. I hear that he has a thing for collecting girls underwear."</p>
<p>"I do not!"</p>
<p>"Lets… keep going with the game," George said.</p>
<p>"Sure!," Battler said. "Every locked room mystery has a trick to it, so I've just got to find this one!"</p>
<p>But as he paced back and forth, he realized that it was easier said than done. Locked room mysteries were supposed to frustrate the detective by design, and this one was doing just that. There was no obvious way for the killer to get in, and, even if he did, no obvious way to re-lock the room after the murder was comitted. "Okay," he said. "You said there was a connected bathroom. What's inside the bathroom?"</p>
<p>Shannon thought about it for a moment, then replied, "A bathtub, shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. There is also a window to the outside, but, like the other window, this one is undamaged and does not open."</p>
<p>"Can I trust that?"</p>
<p>"<strong>Everything I just said is true."</strong></p>
<p>"Thanks. So, if everything you just said is true, how is Dango still alive? Wouldn't he get hot, or cold, or run out of air?"</p>
<p>The maid said nothing, but offered a small smile.</p>
<p>"I look around the room," Battler continued. "Are there any air vents?"</p>
<p>"There are. There's one high up on one of the bedroom walls."</p>
<p>"Okay, I take a closer look. Can I take the vent off?"</p>
<p>"You can."</p>
<p>Battler smiled. He could picture it all in his head now. Like some spy in a movie, the killer had crawled his way through an air duct, committed the crime, then left the same way, pulling the vent cover into place behind him.</p>
<p>"And what's behind the vent cover?"</p>
<p>"An air vent," Jessica said, "Duh."</p>
<p>"That's right," Shannon said. "The vent looks like it goes on for many meters beyond the wall."</p>
<p>"So that's it!" Battler said. "The killer came in through the air vent, killed Mr. Dango, and then crawled right back out! See! Told you that would be simple!"</p>
<p>Jessica looked to Shannon, alarmed. <em>Was it really that simple?</em></p>
<p>Clearly not. Shannon raised her hand. <strong>"The vent is 20 centimeters wide. No one could have crawled through it."</strong></p>
<p>"A baby could fit into that space!"</p>
<p>"Do you seriously expect us to believe that a <em>baby</em> crawled through a vent, rappelled to the floor, overpowered an adult man, and then pulled itself back up and away?" George shook his head. "Come back to reality, Battler."</p>
<p>He was sure that the vent had something to do with it though. "What if… what if someone poured poison gas into the vent?"</p>
<p>"What makes you think there was poison gas?" Jessica said.</p>
<p>"I don't need to say why," Battler said, "I just need to show that it could have happened that way!"</p>
<p>"<strong>It wasn't gas."</strong></p>
<p>"Damn it! Then how did he die?"</p>
<p>Jessica rolled her eyes and George shook his head. Battler, realizing how stupid he'd been, gave an irritated sigh and, throwing out his hands said, "<em>I examine the body</em>."</p>
<p>"Mr. Dango is laying facedown in a big bright red puddle. With some difficulty, you turn him over a little and can see that he was stabbed to death. <strong>All of that is true.</strong>" Shannon said.</p>
<p><em>Stabbed?</em> It meant that there was some other way of entering and exiting the room that he'd missed, which is why he jumped when George suddenly went, "Huh."</p>
<p>"What are you thinking?" Battler said.</p>
<p>"May I ask a question for Battler? I just wanted to check, because Shannon didn't say it with her hand up at the beginning. Mr. Dango is dead, right?"</p>
<p>Shannon raised her hand. <strong>"Mr. Dango is dead. He died of stab wounds."</strong></p>
<p>"I see… okay, I won't say anything else."</p>
<p>"Hey, hey, wait just a minute!" Battler said, pointing at his cousin. "You know something! What did you figure out?"</p>
<p>George, a smug grin plastered on his face, shrugged and said, "You're the one who wanted to play this game with the girls. <em>You </em>go figure it out."</p>
<p>Battler looked around, desperate, then plucked one of the cookies from Shannon's tray. "If you tell me, I'll give you this cookie."</p>
<p>"How old do you think I am? That might work on Maria, but it won't work on me."</p>
<p>"Fine, <em>two</em> cookies!"</p>
<p>"Forget it, Battler."</p>
<p>Jessica giggled, "At this rate, Battler won't figure this out until we're on the boat ride home."</p>
<p><em>Great,</em> Battler thought, <em>what do I do now?</em> He could think of all kinds of weird mechanisms for killing a person, but none that could produce the locked room and result in a stabbing… unless… "Did he kill himself?"</p>
<p>"<strong>It was a murder, not a suicide."</strong></p>
<p>"But the murderer needed to get around the locked door somehow, right? That means that the door had to be unlocked at some point… wait, wait!" his face lit up. "Of course the door would need to be unlocked. It would be unlocked before Mr. Dango entered the room! That's it! The killer entered at some point before Mr. Dango did, killed him, and…" an uncertain look appeared on his face. "Is the killer still in the room?"</p>
<p>"<strong>The killer is not in the room."</strong></p>
<p>"Was the killer ever in the room?"</p>
<p>"<strong>The killer was in the room when Mr. Dango died."</strong></p>
<p>"Okay, so the killer left after killing Mr. Dango."</p>
<p>"Noooope." Jessica said. "Remember, the lock can only be set from the <em>inside</em>."</p>
<p>"If he's not there anymore, then he needed to leave somehow, and he didn't throw himself out the window. That means he had to leave using the front door, or there's some secret ninja passage I don't know about." He looked at Shannon and asked. "No secret ninja passage, right?"</p>
<p>Shannon furiously shook her head. "Knox's Third. No hidden passages."</p>
<p>"Knox's Third?" Jessica asked.</p>
<p>"It's a bunch of rules for writing mysteries," Battler explained. "Or, there was some guy that got tired of people writing bad mysteries. Either way, he wrote a bunch of rules designed to help make mysteries better. Shannon's telling me that she thought this one through."</p>
<p>Jessica gave Shannon a look. "And there you were saying it wasn't the best mystery. You've sure fooled Battler!"</p>
<p>"I'm surprised that he has not gotten it yet," Shannon said, but gave him a supportive smile. "But you just watch. He'll get it!"</p>
<p>Battler didn't feel like he'd be able to get it. If anything, he felt more and more confused. There was no such thing as a Locked Room. Locked Rooms were illusions created by the writers to disguise what actually happened. He had missed something key… which made him all the more furious that George had spotted something that he'd missed. Of course Mr. Dango was dead, that much had been obvious to Battler since the beginning, but George seemed to think it necessary to make sure… why?</p>
<p>"I'm… going to the kitchen," Battler declared.</p>
<p>"What, why?" Jessica said.</p>
<p>"I just need to think."</p>
<p>"Giving up?"</p>
<p>"No! I'm just thinking, <em>that's all.</em>"</p>
<p>He ran off just the same. He didn't want to hear any more of Jessica's taunts, he didn't want any more of George's snide grins, he wanted to win, but no matter how hard, he tried, he couldn't.</p>
<p>And that meant it was time to run.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Author's note:<br/>I received a lot of Blue Truths from the Erika Furudes of Reddit and Discord for the last few chapters, many of which did not have an appropriate answer from Shannon. While I initially planning to continue with Battler, this next scene is for those of you following at home that might want more questions answered. You are welcome to read the next section for more Red Truths, or jump ahead to <b>"The Kitchen"</b> without missing anything of major importance.<br/>Solution goes up tomorrow!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Wow," George said, watching Battler run away. "I didn't think he'd take it that badly."</p>
<p>"That's Battler being Battler," Jessica said with a shrug. "Remember that game of Horseshoes a few years ago? <em>Fifty games.</em> He whined and complained, and it took him until the fifty-first to win, but he never stopped demanding rematches. He'll be back."</p>
<p>"We can't exactly continue the game without him though," George said.</p>
<p>"Well…" Shannon said, squirming in her seat, "it feels unfair to Battler, but… one of you could try it?"</p>
<p>"Won't that mix you up?" George said. "You'll forget who knows which things."</p>
<p>Shannon thought about it, and said, "He can solve the mystery with what I told him so far, and I don't mind repeating things if he asks."</p>
<p>"Okay then," Jessica said. "I bet I'll solve it before Battler gets back! I've wanted to try this one since the start. You said that Mr. Dango was dead. Did he have a chance to do anything before he died? He could have been stabbed, locked the door, and then died."</p>
<p>Shannon raised her hand. <strong>"Mr. Dango died immediately after being stabbed. He did not have time to do anything else."</strong></p>
<p>"Yeah, that doesn't explain how he got in the room either… wait! What if the killer was already in the room, waited until Mr. Dango closed and locked the door, killed him, and then hid until the door was broken down? He could have escaped then!</p>
<p>"<strong>At no time did the culprit hide in the room."</strong></p>
<p>"It doesn't have to be the culprit," Jessica argued. "If the culprit has an accomplice hiding in the room, they could let the culprit in and out."</p>
<p>"<strong>The killer did not have an accomplice."</strong></p>
<p>"Then here's a Battler idea. What if Mr. Dango had a split personality, and was also the culprit? I saw a movie like that-"</p>
<p>"Knox's Tenth Law says that a character cannot be disguised as another character unless I give clues. I like the idea though, maybe I'll use it another time. To be clear though, <strong>Mr. Dango and the Culprit are not the same person.</strong>"</p>
<p>"There goes that idea…" she folded her arms. "Maybe Battler was right, this one is pretty hard."</p>
<p>"Not really," George said.</p>
<p>"<em>Not really?"</em> Jessica repeated. "You never really told us why you asked if Mr. Dango was dead."</p>
<p>"Well, yeah, it's a huge hint. In fact, I bet that I could solve this with just one more question."</p>
<p>With that, he leaned over so he was right next to Shannon, and held up a hand to cover his mouth and her ear. He whispered a short question, then sat back and nodded for Shannon to reply. When she did though, it was with a faint smile. <strong>"Yes, you can."</strong></p>
<hr/>
<p>The kitchen was quiet when Battler entered it, save for the soft patter of rain. Ushiromia Maria sat on a stool facing a table as she sipped a cup of lemonade. Across from her, one of the other maids, Kumasawa Chiyo, looked to be preparing a meal but immediately looked up on his arrival. "Master Battler!" she said, "May I get you something to eat or drink?"</p>
<p>Battler shook his head, but took up an empty stool next to Maria just the same. At two-and-a-half years old, she was just old enough to talk, but not old enough to talk intelligently, and mostly babbled in the way that most toddlers do. She looked up at him with big wide eyes, nearly spilling the lemonade on herself as she did so. It was cute, and it helped break the irritated mood that he'd dragged into the kitchen with him. "How about you?" Battler asked. "Are you any good with mysteries?"</p>
<p>Maria held up the cup to him and said, "Carrot!"</p>
<p>"Thought so." He slumped over on the table. "Are you any good with murder mysteries, Kumasawa?"</p>
<p>The maid laughed, a polite, "Ohoho" and said, "I prefer romance novels."</p>
<p>"I don't know if romance novels would help me beat Shannon's mystery," Battler said. "They're completely different kinds of books."</p>
<p>"Oh, are they now?" Kumasawa leaned on the side of the table across from him. "Romance novels might not have blood and murder, but they still are mysteries!"</p>
<p>Battler gave her a confused look. He'd long ago come to the conclusion that romance novels were just hugs and kisses and people droning, <em>I love you</em> over and over again. "If no one dies, how is it a mystery?"</p>
<p>"A mystery is all about understanding the heart and mind of someone else. In a traditional Mystery Novel, that person is the killer. In a Romance Novel, that person is the love interest."</p>
<p>He thought about it a while, but shook his head, still not quite following her.</p>
<p>"Let's imagine a romance story where the plain country girl is trying to woo the aloof prince," Kumasawa said. "The author of the romance novel won't tell you what the prince is thinking, because that's no fun! The fun is seeing if the girl can get the man. To know that, she needs to know who he is, what he needs, and how to give it to him."</p>
<p>Slowly, Battler was getting the picture. "Whodunnit, whydunnit, howdunnit?"</p>
<p>"That's right! Is figuring out the heart of a lover and the heart of a murderer so different?"</p>
<p>"I guess not?" he slumped again. "But Shannon didn't give me any information about the murderer. She said that I just needed to figure out how the crime was committed."</p>
<p>"Oho, I never would have imagined that girl coming up with such a complex mystery! I wish she was this careful in all of her duties. Why, just yesterday she accidentally cut her finger-"</p>
<p>Battler sat bolt upright. "Say that again," he said.</p>
<p>"Carrot!" Maria declared.</p>
<p>"No, not that, about Shannon."</p>
<p>Kumasawa hesitated, then said, "I was just saying that she should be more careful in her other duties-"</p>
<p>"Her other duties… I don't believe it, I've been thinking about this all wrong. The murderer's been in front of me the whole time!" He jumped off his chair and began pacing back and forth. He could feel the bits and pieces of a method coming together. He was so close. He just needed one, at most <em>two</em> more clues. "I just need a reason!"</p>
<p>And at that moment, Maria said, "Can I have more cookies?"</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, dear," Kumasawa said. "Mistress Rose said-"</p>
<p>Battler burst into laughter, causing the other two to look at him. "It's useless!" he declared, "It's all useless! Maria, you're a genius!" Battler lifted his cousin straight up off of her stool, spun her in a delighted circle and declared, "For that, you win <em>all</em> the cookies!"</p>
<p>"But-"</p>
<p>"Come on!" he said, hauling Maria up onto his shoulders. "We've got a game to win!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Battler sure is taking his time with this," Jessica grumbled. By that point. Battler had already been gone for a few minutes, and she was starting to eye the remaining cookies on Shannon's plate.</p>
<p>George shrugged. "Who knows what he's thinking. I told you that he's a sore loser."</p>
<p>Between the two of them, Shannon appeared worried, almost dejected. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and said, "This isn't right."</p>
<p>"Huh?" Jessica said. "What do you mean? You've beaten Battler fair and square."</p>
<p>"I made it sound like an easy mystery, but maybe it wasn't," she said. "What if he hates me for it?"</p>
<p>"I dunno. It's hard to make Battler hold a grudge. I don't think he'd be that angry with you. He'll probably forget all about it when the rain stops and the seagulls cry."</p>
<p>As if on cue, Battler suddenly came running back into the parlor, planting Maria squarely in front of the plate of cookies and declaring. "I've got it!"</p>
<p>"You do?" George said, folding his arms. "I'll believe it when I hear it."</p>
<p>Battler snapped his fingers and pointed at Shannon. "The dead guy's name is Mr. Dango, right? Like the dumplings?"</p>
<p>Slowly, Shannon nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.</p>
<p>"But answer me this with your hand up. You said it was hard to turn him over to see the stab wounds. <em>Is Mr. Dango fat?</em>"</p>
<p>Shannon raised her hand and replied, <strong>"Mr. Dango is fat."</strong></p>
<p>"Then I've solved the mystery."</p>
<p>George's eyebrows shot up and Jessica's jaw dropped. "Nuh uh," she said. "No way. <em>I </em>haven't figured out the mystery. There's not enough information yet."</p>
<p>"False. Shannon told us everything we needed to know. All you really need to understand is the dead guy… and the person who killed him."</p>
<p>"But we don't know who killed him," George argued. "We'll never know."</p>
<p>"Not true!" he pointed at the young maid once more. "Shannon killed him, because she wrote the mystery."</p>
<p>"That's dumb," Jessica said. "You can't accuse the author of being the culprit. Books don't work that way."</p>
<p>"Except they <em>do</em>," Battler said. "Jessica, Shannon wrote the story. That means that the killer killed based on things she knows, and if there's one thing she probably does know, it's masters and servants.</p>
<p>"Let's reconstruct the game board!"</p>
<p>He picked up Maria and moved her to the middle of the parlor. Gesturing to her, he said, "Mr. Dango is the master of a household, just like Grandpa Kinzo. He spends his time locked up in his room, <em>just like Grandpa Kinzo</em>. And <em>just like Grandpa Kinzo,</em> he has his own servants. Shannon made sure we were told this information, not just once, but <em>twice.</em> Think about that for a second. Why would a person who almost never leaves their room and likes to be alone need servants?</p>
<p>The thing is, a person can't live locked up in a room like that. Even if Mr. Dango eats dinner with his family, he still needs to get breakfast, lunch, and snacks somehow, right? When Grandpa Kinzo wants these things, but won't leave his room, what does he do? He calls Genji or Kumasawa. They have Master Keys to the study."</p>
<p>Next, he picked up the plate of cookies and held it over Maria's head. "Mr. Dango won't open the door if you tell him to, but if you have something he wants, there's no other way to get it into the room." His little cousin reached high into the air, and so Battler lowered down the plate to where she could reach it. "That's how the killer got in. He showed up with something Mr. Dango wanted, and Mr. Dango unlocked the door."</p>
<p>"Hang on!" Jessica said. "Shannon said that Mr. Dango always told people to go away!"</p>
<p>"No, she said that <strong><em>if anyone tried to go to his room TO TALK TO HIM</em>, he would tell them to go away</strong>, because he doesn't like being disturbed. If he wants something, that's not a disturbance. He wouldn't tell a servant that's following his orders to just turn around and leave."</p>
<p>He waited for Shannon to put her hand up and refute, but her wide eyes and delighted smile were just as damning as her special Truth. <em>Better work harder on your poker face, Shannon!</em></p>
<p>Jessica glowered at him and said, "That still doesn't work. The door needs to be locked from the inside."</p>
<p>"As for how the killer got out, he's still a servant. Mr. Dango wouldn't close his own door after letting the servant out, right? The servant would close the door themselves. Here at the mansion, Genji can just lock the door from outside with the master key after he closes it. With Mr. Dango, the lock is on the inside. For the servant to fulfill their role, there is only one answer. Shannon, repeat this for me with your hand up! <em>The door must be closed to engage the lock!</em>"</p>
<p>Jessica looked sharply over to Shannon, expecting a counter, but both of Shannon's hands remained in her lap, and she simply smiled.</p>
<p>With that, the room might as well have been busted completely open. "Don't you see? That's how the culprit got out. He locked the door before he closed it."</p>
<p>George gave an approving nod. "I asked Shannon while you were away, and she said yes. It makes sense."</p>
<p>"It's not unique to mysteries either," Battler said. "The door lock is probably spring-loaded, like the lock on a hotel room door. The killer engaged the lock while the door was still open," Battler continued. "When he closed it behind him, the lock slid into place, leaving Mr. Dango's body trapped inside. <em>That's how the locked room was made.</em>"</p>
<p>"WRONG!" Jessica shouted. "There's no proof! How do you know that the dead guy asked for any of that? You can't just pull something like that out of thin air! Shannon, tell him that he lost! Tell him!"</p>
<p>But Shannon simply smiled and looked up. "I did say that he just needed to find a way that the murder could happen-"</p>
<p>"Not good enough!" Jessica repeated. "Battler used Shannon being Shannon as his argument. That's not part of the mystery! I won't accept it!"</p>
<p>As she scowled down at her, Shannon sighed, looked back up at Battler, and said, "Knox's Eighth. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented."</p>
<p>Jessica shot him a triumphant look. Maybe she was expecting him to crack then and there, but his grin became wider, almost maniacal. "You want proof?"</p>
<p>With that he walked around the table, right up to Shannon, and said, "Show me your hands."</p>
<p>Confused, Shannon held up her hands, then flushed with embarrassment as Battler took them in his own and flipped them palm-up. "George figured it out first, when he asked if Mr. Dango was really dead," Battler explained. "I didn't remember until I was talking with Kumasawa a minute ago.</p>
<p>"Shannon said that <strong>Mr. Dango is laying facedown in a big bright red puddle.</strong> We also know that Mr. Dango was dead for some time… after all, after the murder, the family waited hours before breaking down the door. It must have taken even longer for Detective Battler to arrive. If the murder occurred before dinner, that could be even more hours. But there's something wrong with that picture."</p>
<p>He selected one of Shannon's fingers and pulled it right in front of Jessica's face. "As you can see, dried blood is <em>brown.</em> That means the puddle on the floor isn't blood. It's red soda, or fruit punch, or a sports drink, or tomato soup, or something else. Whatever it was, Mr. Dango spilled it everywhere as he died. It's some fluid that he ordered, and the killer used bringing the drink as an excuse to be allowed into the room. Either the cup or pitcher is still in the room, or the murderer took it with him when he left. The result is the same."</p>
<p>Jessica looked down at Shannon's scab, up to Battler's face, and back down at the girl's finger again. "So let me get this straight. Mr. Dango died because he was a lazy, fat guy that couldn't be bothered to leave his room for some cherry soda?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, pretty much," Battler said, then joking held up his hand and concluded. "<strong><em>This whole mystery is just Room Service</em></strong><em>.</em>"</p>
<p>Jessica looked up at Shannon's face. "Really?"</p>
<p>She replied with a rueful grin, and finally nodded. "Um, I said at the start that it wasn't very good."</p>
<p>"Well, I liked it!" George said. "I was waiting to see if Battler would catch the thing about the color of blood… speaking of which, you should probably let go of Shannon. She looks like she's about to explode."</p>
<p>Battler realized that he was still holding the maid's hand in his, and dropped it immediately. Indeed, the ten year old girl looked so embarrassed that Battler wondered if she'd get a nosebleed from all the blood rushing to her face. "I liked it too!" Battler said. "It was tough, but it got easier once you turned things around a little."</p>
<p>"It's a silly design for a room," Jessica grumbled. "Spring-loaded lock, and no master key for the outside? What if he locked himself out?"</p>
<p>"I was worried that if I added a key, you'd only focus on that instead of the room," Shannon explained.</p>
<p>"You should've said that the key was up on the moon," George joked. "Battler would've spent all night planning the culprit's moon mission rather than finding a way around the door.'</p>
<p>"Whatever," Battler said, with an amused grin. "I still won!"</p>
<p>Behind him, Jessica pulled one of the curtains open, and to everyone's shock, bright sunlight beamed into the room. "You solved it, but not fast enough!" she said. "That means you get to do something Shannon wants as punishment."</p>
<p>"Aww, come on!" Battler said. "If Shannon makes me wear something stupid-"</p>
<p>"Hey, Shannon, how do you think Battler would look in a maid outfit!?"</p>
<p>"Um," Shannon said. "Actually, I just want everyone to come back and play this game again."</p>
<p>"Huh? That's it?" Battler studied her face, looking for some hidden trick or joke, but what he found instead was simple earnest interest. "Well, yeah, sure! As many times as you want!"</p>
<p>There were many mysteries left on the island of Rokkenjima, and the years would produce many more, but as the children walked down to the beach that afternoon, they took pride and perhaps some amusement in the fact that their own little mystery, at least, had been solved.</p>
<p>For the scope of a children's story, that's all that matters, isn't it?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Special Thanks to the following playtesters and detectives from discord and the Umineko Subreddit:<br/>-waterflame321<br/>-orsova<br/>-flagellaVagueness<br/>-LightBrand99<br/>-franzinor<br/>-TheOriginalName5</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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